Favorite Sights and Sounds - Running in Central Park

Jennifer Heiner is a retail director at a New Jersey running company. Working closely with the company's founders, Jennifer Heiner assists with the operation of three retail stores that furnish high-end performance apparel. This requires managing inventory control and hiring new associates during peak shopping periods. Additionally, she aids the company's business development initiatives, which include hosting multiple races each year. In this capacity, she offers coaching, race directing, and organizational assistance, from ensuring aid stations are stocked to securing winners' medals. Prior to her current position, Jennifer Heiner helped to coordinate foster families at a dog rescue in New Jersey. As part of her responsibilities, she worked to expand the organization’s impact by recruiting more foster families and volunteers. She also assisted in providing more than 100 dogs a month with foster homes by addressing immediate issues that might arise during the fostering experience. She prepared for her career by earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and ethics from Lehigh University. She earned multiple distinctions as a student, such as achieving the Faculty Invitational for Outstanding Scholars and membership in The National Scholars Honor Society. Jennifer Heiner is an avid runner - she got into the sport after being a lifelong athlete without an outlet after organized sports in school were over. Now that COVID is waning and more and more races are being put on again, Jennifer has gotten involved with another NYC area running group, NYCRUNS, and is helping with race day events and customer service questions. Whether its training for a Half Marathon or a full 26.2, these groups often have in-person or virtual training programs to get you ready for your big race. Jennifer Heiner herself has run a half dozen marathons, and countless Half Marathons and shorter races. While you typically aim to run one of these distance races in favorable terrain (not too hilly) the best place to train for these events is with some degree of difficulty. Therefore, Jennifer Heiner’s favorite place to train for her distance races is none other than Central Park in Manhattan. Central Park has so many options and running paths / trails for training, and also supplies challenging elevation gains and drops. If you can run in Central Park, you can run anywhere! There are also so many amazing sights and sounds in Central Park, some famous, some not so famous. Jennifer Heiner has outlined some of them for you here: The Loeb Boathouse, situated at the base of the affectionately named "Cat Hill" (more on that later this week), is one of Central Park's most beloved locations. Beginning in the 1860s, Park visitors could take a “passage boat” that completed a circuit of the Lake, stopping at various boat landings. This tradition has continued into modern times, as the Loeb Boathouse is still a launch point for rowboats, offering visitors an fun way to explore one of the Park’s most significant landscapes. The Boathouse also appears in many movies, providing the perfect backdrop to famous scenes in movies such as "When Harry Met Sally," the "Manchurian Candidate" and "27 Dresses." It also appears often in TV shows such as "Sex in the City." If Boats aren't your thing, the Loeb Boathouse offers great people-watching from its outdoor dining, where runners, locals, and tourists alike can enjoy drinks and a meal out in the Park. You will see the aforementioned Cat Hill twice on your journey through Central Park. Located on the East Drive and spanning from East 75th Street up to East 81st Street, the hill gets its name from the famous sculpture of a panther perched atop a rock near the peak of the hill. While the hill is only about a 1/4 mile in length, it often comes towards the end of the many races that are held in Central Park - forcing runners to climb one last time before crossing the finish line. Local runners know that conquering Cat Hill several times during a race or a long run in Central Park is something to be proud of - if you can run in Central Park, you can run anywhere. The sculpture is officially titled "Still Hunt" and was created in 1883 by Georgia-born sculptor Edward Kemeys. It was originally designed to blend in with the natural landscape of the park, instead of standing out to visitors like the Belvedere Castle or Bethesda Terrace.